Sunday December 8th Lake Chiemsee

We left our hotel about 9am and drove 30 minutes to Lake Chiemsee.   We took a boat over to island with the Herrenchiemsee Castle that was built by Ludwig II.   The first two pictures are Nancy and Bonnie Hunter on the boat with the Bavaria Alps in the background and third picture is the front of Herrenchiemsee castle which was modeled after the Versailles as Ludwig greatly admired Louis XIV.

He ran out of money during the construction, so only the formal quarters are complete.  It was used by Ludwig for only 10 days and he was the only person there along with 20-30 servants. He wanted all of the chandeliers in the castle lit meaning it took the servants a half hour to light all 4,000-5,000 candles, and over the 10 days the castle was used, they burnt  more than 40,000 candles.   they have not been lit since.  It was never used as a castle again.   One of the interesting features is that in the King’s private quarters there was a large dining room table that was on top of a trap door.   When it was time to eat, the table would drop down about 40 feet to the room below where the staff would set the table, including the food,  and then raise it up.   In that way the King could eat alone without having to see the servants.  The pictures show the south staircase (the north staircase was not finished), the formal bedroom, and the hall of mirrors, which was used for parties and was lit by 2,188 candles.

After visiting the castle we had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the lake.   This a picture of Nancy sitting with King Neptune by the fountain and a picture of the door to the restaurant.

We then took the boat to another little island where they had a great Bavarian Christmas Market.  There were about 200 stands, half with crafts and half with food and booze.   There was a little bandstand set up in one location for music and there was a choir in the church.  The following pictures show the island with the market, a sign about the market at the pier, and the crowds of locals who were enjoying the wonderful day and market.

We went out for dinner to a very nice local restaurant, and then have spent the evening writing and reading.

Saturday December 7th Arrive in Germany

 

We arrived in Germany and about 7:30am after are overnight flight.  There are 24 of us on this tour, plus our two guides, Jim West of Sew Many Travels and Bonnie Hunter (first photo) and our driver.    We have a 55 passenger bus for the tour, so we all can spread out nicely.   We had to wait a little while at the airport for two guests arriving on different flights, but then we hit the road for Ruhpolding.  Ruhpolding is in the Bavarian Alps, so as we started to get close to the town the mountains rose up around us.

 

The next photo is our hotel in Ruhpolding, which dates back to the 1100’s, and has been in the same family for 160 years.  In the center of Bavarian towns are poles that date back to olden times.  The symbols indicate the different trades/services that are available in the town.

 

The rest of these pictures are some more of the Bavarian buildings in town.

Friday September 13th–Mammoth Site and torturous Friday the 13 drive to Denver

We went to the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs South Dakota at 9am.   The site is an old sink hole, that was filled with water.   Mammoths and other creatures would get into the water and not be able to get out.   So far they have found the bones of 61 Mammoths, and have no idea how many more they may find.     It is really interesting to see the site, with many bones being left where they have been found as they continue to dig down at the site.  Nancy can be seen holding a mammoth tooth, always the dental assistant!   After the tour, we checked out the local Quilt Shop.

We started towards Denver at 11am, and almost immediately hit the first rain of the trip.   As we drove we learned that our route, I-25 was closed due to flooding in Colorado.   We planned an alternate route further east on Highway 85, but before we arrived at Cheyenne, we learned that it also was closed due to mud slides.   We also started to see signs saying all roads from Cheyenne into Colorado were closed.   We checked our map and turned east at Cheyenne, driving about 50 miles to Nebraska, where we turned south on a small highway, driving down to I-76.   We took I-76 west in to our Hotel near the Denver Airport.  Most of the trip was either in rain or fog, with a pretty good 20+ mile an hour breeze. While we played in sunny South Dakota, Colorado experienced rain of epic proportions.  Boulder, which might get 15” per year, saw amounts of up to 18” and the flooding was massive.  Other areas north of Denver were hard hit as well with people being rescued by helicopter in some instances.  Roads became raging rivers and rivers overflowed their banks. The fear that the respite is brief and that more rain is expected in the next few days.

Julie met us at the fancy dancy hotel and we had a very nice final meal with her, before we hit the hay, on the worst hotel bed we have ever had!!!  

Now we are flying home, and looking forward to seeing everyone back home.

Thursday September 12th Custer State Park, Crazy Horse and Wind Cave

This morning we started our day with an early morning drive around Custer State Park looking for critters; we were successful!!!!

We stopped the car and watched in amazement as the beautiful buffalo surrounded us, leisurely crossing the road to a greener pasture.  we spent a half hour among them.

My caption for this one has is the Prairie Dog saying “I think it is safe to come out now,I don’t see them.”

 

Next we drove about 20 miles to see the Crazy Horse monument, which was started in 1948 and won’t be done for a long, long, long time.  The visitors center is a beautiful complex that includes the sculptors studio, Native American museum, and restaurant.

We ended the day with a tour of Wind Cave, which was the 7th National Park in the country, and the first national park that was a cave.  They estimate that they have only found about 5% of the cave, and yet they have identified about 160 miles of tunnels, all layered into an area that is only a couple of miles by a couple of miles. Ron, the park ranger who was our guide in the cave, is standing beside the natural entrance to the cave.  Luckily we did not have to squeeze through that tiny opening.  The cave is famous for the boxwork formations that you see in the last photo. 

 

We had a wonderful day, and loved every minute of it, particularly being surrounded by the Buffalo!!!

Wednesday–September 11th

  Today we left Deadwood and drove to Custer State Park, where we saw beautiful Sylvan Lake. we hiked a 1.3 mile trail around the beautiful lake, which included going behind the small man-made dam and huge rocks that make the dam creating the lake.

We had a nice lunch at the beautiful Sylvan Lake Lodge and then drove through the needles section of Custer park on very narrow twisty roads that included six single lane tunnels.   Two of the tunnels are aligned to give some of the first views of Mount Rushmore.  We hiked the 1.0 mile Presidential trail to get right below the faces.  We were there for a couple of hours, and it was amazing to see the light and shadows change as they play across the faces.  Up close,

Mt. Rushmore is an awesome sight and an amazing achievement.

After Mount Rushmore we drove to the town of Custer for the night.   Tomorrow, we will visit a different section of the Custer state Park.